Obama names ex-federal prosecutor to head SEC

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NBC News staff and wire reports – 7 days

Saying that more needs to be done to reform Wall Street, President Barack Obama named tough former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, bringing a proven white-collar crime watchdog into an agency that has been criticized for being soft on the financial industry.

"We need to keep going after irresponsible behavior in the financial industry so that taxpayers don't pay the price. I am absolutely confident that Mary Jo has the experience and the resolve to tackle these complex issues and to protect the American people in a way that is smart and in a way that is fair," Obama said at a White House event to announce Whites' nomination.

At the same event, the president rounded out his watchdog arsenal by renominating Richard Cordray to remain as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created in the wake of the financial crisis as part of the Dodd-Frank act to reform Wall Street.

Obama urged Congress to swiftly confirm both nominees, adding that there was "no excuse for the Senate to wait any longer."

Cordray was never confirmed when Obama appointed him to the position in 2012. The appointment set up a contentious debate with Senate Republicans, who objected to the entire concept of the CFPB. The renomination could reignite that clash.

The choice of White drew praise from both Wall Street and reform advocates who say White would ably steer the powerful agency that plays a key role in overseeing U.S. financial markets.

New York's Charles Schumer, a Democrat who is part of the Senate leadership and sits on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, praised White's reputation as a tough-as-nails prosecutor and predicted she will "easily be confirmed."

A swift confirmation for White could help the SEC speed up its implementation of the dozens of unfinished rules required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

White would succeed current SEC Chairman Elisse Walter, a Democratic commissioner who took over in December after predecessor Mary Schapiro stepped down.

Schapiro's departure left the commission divided between two Democrats and two Republicans, and observers said the split could make it nearly impossible to complete controversial rules, such as the Volcker Rule, which bans banks from proprietary trading.

High-profile cases
White, now a respected white-collar defense attorney with the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton, was the only woman in the 200-year history of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to serve in the top spot there.

She was in office from 1993 through to 2002, during a tumultuous time starting with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and then later, the infamous Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.

Under her watch, the U.S. Attorney's office won about 35 convictions of militant Muslims charged with plotting against Americans.

"I view her as an incredibly well-regarded lawyer who has spent a significant amount of time as a partner at Debevoise representing companies and individuals in high-profile securities related matters," said Cheryl Scarboro, the former head of the SEC's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit and now a partner with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

As a defense attorney, White has been involved in high-profile SEC and Justice Department cases.

She conducted an internal investigation into corruption at Siemens AG that resulted in a record settlement for the German engineering conglomerate. She also represented healthcare provider HCA Holdings Inc in an insider-trading investigation, according to her online biography.

She has also represented JPMorgan Chase & Co in major matters related to the financial crisis, as well as former Bank of America CEO Lewis over a civil lawsuit in connection with Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

It is unclear whether her defense of Wall Street clients could prove troublesome for her during the U.S. Senate confirmation process. But Wall Street champions and critics both had positive takes on White.

"I have met Mary Jo White, and anyone who knows her at all - extremely capable, competent, bright, tough, and a perfect choice," JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in an interview on Thursday with Fox Business News from Davos.

Neil Barofsky, who was hired as an assistant U.S. attorney by White in 2000 and went on to become the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, called Obama's pick an "inspired choice."

"I expect that she will be unfazed by the intimidation tactics of the usual suspects in Washington - be they antagonistic members of Congress, captured officials from other parts of government or those who so relentlessly push the agendas of the largest banks," Barofsky said.

Like Schapiro, White has previously been identified as a political independent. Unlike Schapiro, White has not worked as a Wall Street regulator.

However, White's husband, John White, served as the director of the SEC's Corporation Finance division, which oversees public company disclosures, from 2006 to 2008.

Known for a legendary work ethic and a fondness for beer and baseball, White also developed a reputation as a ferocious basketball player when in the U.S. Attorney's office, even though she stands around 5 feet tall.

Former SEC enforcement director William McLucas said it was an "excellent sign" that the White House could get someone of her caliber to take the position. "There is no one I know that works harder," McLucas said.

James Cox, a professor of law at Duke University who has served with White on various panels, said White will be a very different SEC chairman than Schapiro.

"Mary Schapiro was a politician," Cox said. Mary Jo White, by contrast, he said, will be more blunt and direct. "She can unpack somebody's argument really quickly."

Cordray controversy
Cordray has already faced some uphill battles with Republicans in Congress.

Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, was appointed in January 2012 while Congress was in recess after Republicans who were wary of the CFPB's independence blocked his nomination.

The controversial appointment limited the amount of time Cordray could serve without going through a full confirmation process.

The CFPB has drawn criticism from Republicans and business groups, who say it is virtually unchecked and will hurt lending and put small banks out of business.

Asked whether the administration foresees any problems getting Cordray confirmed, White House spokesman Jay Carney said he did not expect any objections to him "on substance."

"He is absolutely the right person for the job," Carney said. He said earlier obstacles to Cordray's nomination had been based on "political considerations" from lawmakers who had opposed the creation of the financial protection board.

Some political observers, however, said Thursday that any fights to come will not be about Cordray personally, but about the overall structure of the CFPB itself.

"Issues larger than his handling of the bureau will probably dictate that," said Jason Rosenstock, the director of government relations at ML Strategies.

Reuters and CNBC contributed to this report.

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Governor of Florida calls Obama strike possible ports block

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MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's Governor wants to call President Barack Obama federal law and order a cooling off period, when nearly 15,000 workers away from the job to a threatened strike, which would be a serious blow to the economy of the State, according to a letter he sent this week to the President.

The International Longshoremen Association maritime Alliance Union and have US focusing shippers and ports since March was collective bargaining but supposedly far from 15 ports on the Gulf of Mexico and eastern coasts, a deal with cargo handling remain.

In October, when a previous Treaty expired, the sides agreed a 90-day extension of terms, which will expire on December 29.

Florida ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale would be hit directly, through a strike or lockout but a stoppage would also rattle, public transportation and trade, which accounts for 550,000 jobs in the and $66 billion engaged in economic activity, said Florida Governor Rick Scott in a letter dated Thursday.

Scott, "The threat to national safety and security, which would result in mass closure of ports are overvalued can not," Obama said.

Scott said that Obama had to prevent the power of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 or to interrupt a work stoppage in ports. Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush both Taft-Hartley, which calls for 80 days cooling-off periods and mediation used, said Scott.

"The Taft-Hartley Act provides your management with tools that can help to avoid this danger," said Scott. "I ask in the name of the State of Florida, respectfully, that you invoke the law when... the contract expires at the end of the month."

(Report by Michael Connor in Miami; Edit by Cynthia Johnston)

(C) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. check, whether restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

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Engineer who gave Obama resume still jobless

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A Fort Worth semiconductor engineer who sent his resume to the president after a social media chat is still looking for work.

Darin Wedel, who was laid off three years ago, has turned down several job offers since sending his resume to the White House because the jobs were not located in North Texas.

President Barack Obama asked for his resume when his wife asked in a Google+ chat why the federal government continued to issue H-1B visas to foreign workers when people such as her husband could not find a job.

The exchange attracted national attention.

Jennifer Wedel said her husband has gotten calls from around the United States. The White House contacted some of the companies on the Wedels' behalf, she said.

"We had the head guy from Intel call us and basically said, 'If you move to New York, we'll get you a job.' ... It kind of gets me teary-eyed, because I wish we could," Jennifer Wedel said.

Darin Wedel turned down the offer from Intel as well as three other out-of-state jobs and one in Austin because his custody agreement does not allow him to move away from his daughter's mother, who lives in the area.

The couple said they knew their options might be limited when Darin Wedel was laid off. They said they are not frustrated and are incredibly thankful for the interest.

And Darin Wedel has a local lead — a job interview next week in Corinth.

In a Google+ hangout on Jan. 30, Jennifer Wedel asked Obama about the country's H-1B visa program.

The visa allows employers to temporarily hire a limited number of foreign workers in certain occupations, including science, engineering, medicine and the arts. The jobs generally require specialized knowledge.

When Darin Wedel was laid off in 2008, Texas Instruments had some H-1B workers.

Wedel told The Washington Post he was laid off because of a plant closing.

His wife, an insurance agent at State Farm, said she has found herself as a sort of spokeswoman working to make it so Americans have the first chance to get a job before foreign workers.

She said people from all over the country have reached out to her and told her stories similar to her husband's.

"I have clients who are struggling to pay their insurance bills because they have gotten laid off, and a number of those have been in the same industry that my husband is in," she said.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, emailed her Wednesday morning and told her that he is going to try to breathe new life into a proposal to modify the H-1B visa program.

Grassley said he and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, tried to pass a measure in 2009 that would require employers to make a reasonable effort to recruit Americans for jobs before they could hire H-1B workers.

Jennifer Wedel said she and her husband are humbled that their experience is bringing attention to the issue.

"I think it is fulfilling," she said. "I think it will be more fulfilling when we see change."

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Obama may keep his job even if you lose yours

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By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

The conventional wisdom among many political pundits is that President Barack Obama faces an uphill re-election battle in large part because unemployment seems stuck at historically high levels. Economists who have studied the impact of the job market on past elections beg to disagree.

It’s true that no president since Franklin Roosevelt has been elected when the unemployment rate was over 7.2 percent. That was where the jobless rate stood in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won a second term, beating Walter Mondale in a landslide, with 59 percent of the popular vote.

The jobless rate stood at 7.4 percent when George H.W. Bush lost his 1992 re-election bid against challenger Bill Clinton; it was at 7.5 percent in November 1980, when Jimmy Carter lost his job to Reagan.

If that were the only statistic that mattered, Obama indeed would have his work cut out for him.

Though the job market began gradually improving in the second half of last year, employment growth remains sluggish. The jobless rate dropped by a sharp 0.5 percentage point in the last three months of 2011 but currently stands at 8.5 percent and is expected to show little or no improvement when the government reports updated January data on Friday. Some forecasters caution the rate might even rise again this year as “discouraged” workers, who are not included in the official "headline" rate, begin looking for work again and raise the count of those considered unemployed.

But a high unemployment rate, by itself, isn’t necessarily a problem for an incumbent president, according to Ray Fair, a Yale University economist who has analyzed the impact of the economy on presidential elections back to 1916.

“What the data show is that it’s the change in the economy, primarily in the year of the election, that matters — not the level,” he said.

So far, the trend is moving in the right direction. But it could easily be derailed by this fall.

Fair’s current forecasts show a very close race. But his models show that Obama still stands a good chance of re-election even with a relatively modest drop in the unemployment rate by November.

“When they go to the booth, voters would see this as a positive sign: Obama’s got the economy growing again,” said Fair. "Even though the unemployment rate is higher than full employment, the trend is good and things are improving.”

Reagan’s 1984 re-election is a good example of that scenario: at 7.2 percent in November, the jobless rate was down more than a full percentage point from a year earlier as the economy continued to shake off the lingering impact of the 1980-1982 recession that sent the jobless rate soaring to 10.8 percent.

To capitalize on the high level of unemployment, GOP presidential hopefuls have hammered Obama's economic record, blaming a variety of White House policies for the weak job market. Front-runner Mitt Romney has tried to make the case that, if elected, the former Massachusetts Republican and Bain Capital president would apply his business experience to do a better job putting Americans back to work.

But for all the money spent on political advertising, the airtime devoted to debates and the miles logged in campaign jets and busses, the GOP attacks and Romney’s 162-page policy proposal may not mean much, say some analysts.

The correlation between economics and presidential elections is so strong, they say, that most of the attention on wider issues and policy differences -- from fiscal matters like taxes and the deficit, to social issues like income inequality and immigration -- have very little impact on voters’ final decision.

“Political scientists don’t tend to think the specifics of the challengers platform matter all that much,” said Brendan Nyhan, a government Professor at Dartmouth College. “Incumbent re-elections are primarily a referendum on the incumbent and specifically on their economic record. If the economy is strong, the challenger may try to shift onto some other issue, but that rarely works.”

Even as the economy continues to muddle through at a relatively weak growth pace, Obama may also be in a position to play a few important cards not available to his Republican challenger.

Incumbents have long used the power of the White House to enact programs and policies that help give the economy a jolt in the months before voters go the polls. Richard Nixon famously pressured then-Federal Reserve Board chairman Arthur Burns to cut interest rates to help spur the economy in the months ahead of his successful 1972 re-election despite widespread opposition to his administration’s Vietnam War policies.  

That’s increased the stakes in the ongoing debate over extending payroll tax cuts and long-term unemployment insurance. Both measures, if enacted, would improve American households' spending power and improve their sense of personal financial well-being. If Republican’s succeed in block or paring down those measures, the impact on consumer spending could create a further drag on the economy just in time for the campaign’s home stretch this fall.

Those two pocketbook helpers, though, may be Obama’s last chance to give the economy the momentum he’ll need to fend off voters’ money malaise, according to Mark Zandi, an economist with Moody’s Analytics and former advisor to 2008 GOP presidential hopeful John McCain.

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Better jobs data a mixed blessing for Obama

1:54 AM better, blessing, mixed, Obama No Comments

The United States 200,000 jobs in December, but it added there are still 6 million fewer jobs than in December 2007. NBC Tom Costello reports.

By John W. Schoen, senior producer

President Barack Obama claim that help his economic policies Americans have brought back in work showed a shot in the arm Friday when Government unemployment rate dropped data of the country at the lowest level in three years.

"We have made real progress," said Obama Friday after the latest employment report was released. "Now is not the time to stop."

The Government reported on Friday that the labour market in December, to a healthy clip expands pushing the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent. The news followed a series of reports on a broad revival of economic growth.

Private employers 200,000 workers added last month, the Labor Department said. It was the biggest gain in three months and a much stronger results, win the 150,000 economists expected had. Unemployment rate in November was seen by a notch to 8.7 percent, easing widespread fears that the sharp decline in October a month was by accident.

Gaining momentum with the presidential campaign has the data the White House a welcome reprieve of grim economic data that has dogged his presidency. What must be Obama in the election year for the good news to place continue the front or even accelerate.

"When we took over the Government, we lose 800,000 jobs haemorrhage were jobs, with major losses only of depression," said Minister of labour Hilda Solis. "Now see we a better trajectory where we are in the right direction." "I believe that the public supports the types of solutions, which the President speaks, but we must still do more."

Republicans wasted no time to play down the impact of the economic policies of the President.

"I can not give Washington, Congress or the Administration, in a credit whatsoever," said Senator Bob Corker, R-Tennessee "we simply did not have things that need to be done." This (improvement comes from) the private sector and its resistance despite the fact have we had very bad behavior of Washington. "

Vote: Do you see signs of improvement in the labour market?

It is also clear that will continue to improve the employment data for the next 10 months. The most economic forecasters see economic growth slow down in 2012. The Outlook is clouded by the ongoing debt crisis in Europe, expected to slip into a recession, even if a financial disaster can be averted.

The decline of which heading may unemployment rate blocked, even if the US economy continue to heal. The rate is partly as a result of a decrease in the official size of the workforce decreased. So-called unemployed workers find "discouraged" you better chances of getting, we start counting again and then get to reverse back in the workforce, which slow decrease in the unemployment rate or price as he.

When that happens, Friday could long since forgotten optimistic messages from election day.

"If I were sitting in the White House, I would go for the unemployment rate to bump a bit now rather as spring or summer when people come back in the workforce", economic strategist said Matt McDonald, a Republican.

The Obama administration to kick off report prod Congress continue to guidelines, the expansion of last year's salary and payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance benefits include. After deadlock for weeks, Congress voted in December continues to these guidelines only for two months.

"It is important that we the economic policy, which continue, helping us to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the recession, 2007 began to the end of the year," said White House Chief Econmist Alan Krueger.

Republican opponents argue, that the costs of these policies and the impact on the deficit any suggestion compensate federal budget, which increases spending is the economy. Even Obama note supporters, that the White House can do it not much more is to create growth and jobs.

"Around in the basement, I was looking for", Austan Goolsbee, former Chief Economist of Obama said. "There are no big lever down there, you can flip and everything goes."

Although the jobs move numbers in the right direction, most voters think the country on the wrong track, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal, is the beginning of December. Only 22 percent believe taken the county located in the right direction; about 69 percent said pollsters that the United States in the wrong direction is headed.

"People still feel how labour market is hurting and they are right," said Stanford economist Ed Lazear, was Chief Economist for George W. Bush. "Even if this a very different labour market as we things better whenever 8.5 percent unemployment, you saw was the unemployment rate of 4.4 percent in 2007." "It's no wonder people so still fight the feeling like the labour market is, even if the move in the right direction."

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Obama: Us to increase the military presence of the Asia-Pacific

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CANBERRA, Australia — Signaling a determination to counter a rising China, President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to expand U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region and "project power and deter threats to peace" in that part of the world even as he reduces defense spending and winds down two wars.

"The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay," he declared in a speech to the Australian Parliament, sending an unmistakable message to Beijing.

Obama's bullish speech came several hours after announcing he would send military aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia for a training hub to help allies and protect American interests across Asia. He declared the U.S. is not afraid of China, by far the biggest and most powerful country in the region.

China immediately questioned the U.S. move and said it deserved further scrutiny.

Emphasizing that a U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region is a top priority of his administration, Obama stressed that any reductions in U.S. defense spending will not come at the expense of that goal.

"Let there be no doubt: in the Asia Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all in," he said.

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For Obama, Asia represents both a security challenge and an economic opportunity. Speaking in broad geopolitical terms, the president asserted: "With most of the world's nuclear powers and some half of humanity, Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation, needless suffering or human progress."

Virtually everything Obama is doing on his nine-day trip across the Asia-Pacific region has a Chinese subtext, underscoring a relationship that is at once cooperative and marked by tensions over currency, human rights and military might.

China's military spending has increased threefold since the 1990s to about $160 billion last year, and its military recently tested a new stealth jet fighter and launched its first aircraft carrier. A congressional advisory panel on Wednesday said China's buildup is focused on dealing with America's own defenses and exploiting possible weaknesses.

The panel, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, urged the White House and Congress to look more closely at China's military expansion and pressed for a tougher stance against what it called anticompetitive Chinese trade policies.

The U.S. and smaller Asian nations have grown increasingly concerned about China's claims of dominion over Pacific waters and the revival of old territorial disputes, including confrontations over the South China Sea. China says it has sovereignty over the vast sea.

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Responding to questions at a news conference Wednesday with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Obama said, "The notion that we fear China is mistaken."

Tough talk won't alter U.S.-China trade

While stressing his intent to increase influence in the Asia-Pacific region, Obama avoided a avoided a confrontational tone with China in his speech to the Australian parliament.

"We've seen that China can be a partner, from reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula to preventing proliferation," he said. "We'll seek more opportunities for cooperation with Beijing, including greater communication between our militaries to promote understanding and avoid miscalculation.

In a note of caution, however, he added: " We will do this, even as continue to speak candidly with Beijing about the importance of upholding international norms and respecting the universal human rights of the Chinese people."

China was immediately leery of the prospect of an expanded U.S. military presence in Australia. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said there should be discussion as to whether the plan was in line with the common interests of the international community.

With military bases and tens of thousands of troops in Japan and South Korea, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in Asia for decades. Australia lies about 5,500 miles south of China, and its northern shores would give the U.S. easier access to the South China Sea, a vital commercial route.

The plan outlined by Obama will allow the United States to keep a sustained force on Australian bases and position equipment and supplies there, giving the U.S. ability to train with allies in the region and respond more quickly to humanitarian or other crises.

Slideshow: The dance of two giants (on this page)

About 250 U.S. Marines will begin a rotation in northern Australia starting next year, with a full force of 2,500 military personnel staffing up over the next several years. The United States will bear the cost of the deployment and the troops will be shifted from other deployments around the world. Having ruled out military reductions in Asia and the Pacific, the Obama administration has three main areas where it could cut troop strength: Europe, the Middle East and the U.S.

All U.S. troops are being withdrawn from Iraq by the end of this year, and a drawdown in Afghanistan is underway. But the Pentagon has said recently that the U.S. will maintain a major presence in the greater Middle East as a hedge against Iranian aggression and influence. A more likely area for troop reductions is Europe, although no decisions have been announced.

U.S. officials said the pact was not an attempt to create a permanent American military presence in Australia.

Australia's Gillard said, "We are a region that is growing economically. But stability is important for economic growth, too." She said that "our alliance has been a bedrock of stability in our region."

Obama's visit is intended to show the tightness of that relationship and he hailed the long ties between the United States and Australia, two nations far away that have spilled blood together.

Story: Obama to China: Behave like 'grown up' economy

"From the trenches of the First World War to the mountains of Afghanistan, Aussies and Americans have stood together, fought together and given their lives together in every single major conflict of the past hundred years. Every single one," he said.

Obama had a packed day-and-a-half in Australia, his first trip here as president after canceling two previous tries.

Advice from student

One Australian high school student offered visiting Obama advice when he and Prime Minister Julia Gillard were grilled by a group of 14- to 16 year-olds studying journalism at Canberra's Campbell High School.

One student asked about the future direction of the U.S. education system.

A second asked Obama if he had ever considered teaming up with "a high profile celebrity such as Justin Bieber", a Canadian-born teenage pop idol, to appeal to more people.

Obama laughed off the question and said he interacts with a lot of celebrities.

"Hopefully if I'm going to be successful it's going to be because of the ideas I put forward and not because I'm hanging out with Justin Bieber," he told the students.

"Although he is a very nice young man and I'll tell him you said hi."

Visiting Marines
After addressing Parliament, Obama was flying to the northern city of Darwin, where some of the Marines deploying to Australia next year will be based.

In addition to the expanded Marine presence, more U.S. aircraft will rotate through Australia as part of an agreement between the nations' air forces.

The only American base currently in the country is the joint Australia-U.S. intelligence and communications complex at Pine Gap in central Australia. But there are hundreds of U.S. service personnel in the country on exchange.

Air combat units also use the expansive live bombing ranges in Australia's sparsely populated north in training rotations of a few months, and occasionally naval units train off the coast. But training exercises involving ground forces are unusual.

Obama had scrapped two earlier visits, once to stay in Washington to work for passage of his health care bill, and again after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Obama back on top of the most powerful list

11:36 PM Obama, powerful No Comments

What do the president of the United States, the Dalai Lama, a billionaire drug dealer and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg all have in common? They are all featured on Forbes' annual ranking of the world’s most powerful people.

The ranking takes into account four factors. First, we measured how many people a person has power over. For a religious leader, like Pope Benedict XVI (#7), that would be the number of adherents, or Catholics, in the world. For a CEO, like General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt (#28) we counted the number of employees.

Then we looked at the financial resources controlled by each candidate, whether that is revenues (for a company), GDP (for a country) or net worth (for a billionaire). Next we asked: Is a candidate influential in more than one arena, or sphere? This bumped up the ranking of people like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (#17), who is a powerful politician, a self-made media billionaire and a major philanthropist.

Finally, we gave consideration to how actively the candidates wield their power. This measure eliminated inactive heirs to great fortunes, semi-retired industrialists and former heads of state. In all, 70 people made the final list, one for every 100 million people on the planet.

Regaining the title of the World’s Most Powerful Man on this year’s list is President Barack Obama, who gave up the top spot last year to China’s president Hu Jintao (#3). Despite his current political weakness, Obama remains the head-of-state of the world’s largest, most dynamic economy, commander-in-chief of the planet’s deadliest military and, unofficially, the leader of the free world. Moreover, Hu’s relative power is decreasing as he starts giving up important political offices, including general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, to his successor Xi Jinping (#69).

In second place is Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who is poised to regain the Russian presidency this year from his loyal underling president Dmitry Medvedev (#59). German chancellor Angela Merkel ranks fourth and rounding out the top five is Bill Gates, co-chair of the world’s largest charity, chairman of Microsoft and America’s richest man.

(Msnbc.com is a joint-venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (#9) is the youngest person on the list at age 27, and the biggest gainer this year, jumping 31 spots from 40th in 2010. Also moving up is Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, who ranks 40th, 26 spots higher than last year. Bezos, who is already the largest “e-tailer” on Earth, is now exerting increasing power over the publishing business through the Kindle and Amazon Web Services powers some the biggest sites, including Zynga and Netflix.

On the flip side, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fell twelve spots this year to 51st after announcing that he plans to give up his position atop Tibet’s government in exile. The world’s arbiter of good taste, luxury purveyor Bernard Arnault (#65) of LVMH also took a tumble in the rankings, falling from 43rd in 2010.

Two criminals made this year’s list. Joaquin Guzman Loeran (#55), the billionaire head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, that operates with seeming immunity in Northern Mexico and Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar (#57), who heads an organized crime syndicate in Mumbai and is suspected of providing logistical and financial support for terrorists.

Life is not easy at the top. Ten people fell off the list this year due to declining influence, including Oprah Winfrey, disgraced French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn and former Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan. Others departed in a more definitive way, including Apple cofounder Steve Jobs (Feb. 24, 1955 – Oct. 5, 2011) and Osama bin Laden (Mar. 10, 1947 – May 2, 2011).

© 2011 Forbes.com

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Wary about Iran, Obama lobbies Russia and China

7:29 PM about, China, lobbies, Obama, Russia No Comments

HONOLULU — Searching for help, President Barack Obama lobbied the skeptical leaders of Russia and China on Saturday for support in keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed menace to the world, hoping to yield a "common response" to a crisis that is testing international unity.

Yet Obama's talk of solidarity with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao was not publicly echoed by either man as Iran moved anew to the fore of the international stage — and to the front of the fierce U.S. presidential race.

Obama, at home in Hawaii and holding forth on a world stage, also sought to show aggressiveness in fixing an economy that has weakened his standing with voters. He pushed Hu about American impatience with China's economic policy, touted the makings of a new pacific trade zone and showered attention on the lucrative Asia-Pacific export market.

The United States' vast worries about Iran grew starker with a report this week by the U.N. atomic agency that asserted in the strongest terms yet Iran is conducting secret work with the sole intent of developing nuclear arms. The U.S. claims a nuclear-armed Iran could set off an arms race among rival states and directly threaten Israel.

Russia and China remain a roadblock to the United States in its push to tighten international sanctions on Iran. Both are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and have shown no sign the new report will change their stand.

With Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit here, Obama said the two "reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response" on Iran.

Shortly after, Obama joined Hu, in a run of back-to-back diplomacy with the heads of two allies that hold complicated and at times divisive relations with the United States. Obama said that he and the Chinese leader want to ensure that Iran abides by "international rules and norms."

Obama's comments were broad enough to portray a united front without yielding any clear indication of progress. Medvedev, for his part, was largely silent on Iran during his remarks, merely acknowledging that the subject was discussed. Hu did not mention Iran at all.

White House aides insisted later that Russia and China remain unified with the United States and other allies in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and that Obama, Hu and Medvedev had agreed to work on the next steps. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the new allegations about Iran's programs demand an international response, and "I think the Russians and the Chinese understand that. We're going to be working with them to formulate that response."

As the president held forth on the world stage in his home state, Republicans vying to compete against Obama for the presidency unleashed withering criticism in a debate in South Carolina. It was a rare moment in which foreign policy garnered attention in a campaign dominated by the flagging U.S. economy.

"If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," said Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann warned that Iran's attempt to develop a nuclear weapon is setting the table "for worldwide nuclear war against Israel."

Iran has insisted its nuclear work is in the peaceful pursuit of energy and research, not weaponry.

U.S. officials have said the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency was unlikely to persuade China and Russia to support tougher sanctions on the Iranian government. But led by Obama, the administration is still trying to mount pressure on Iran, both through the United Nations and its own, for fear of what may come should Iran proceed undeterred.

More broadly, Obama sought Saturday to position the United States as a Pacific power determined to get more American jobs by tapping the explosive potential of the Asia-Pacific.

For businesses, he said, "this is where the action's going to be."

"There is no region in the world that we consider more vital than the Asia-Pacific region," he told chief executives gathered for a regional economic summit.

The president went so far as to saying the United States had grown "a little bit lazy" in trying to attract business to the United States.

Obama's aides said he was blunt with Hu in expressing concern about China's undervalued currency, which keeps its exports cheaper and U.S. exports to China more expensive.

Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Froman said Obama made it clear that Americans are growing "increasingly impatient and frustrated" with the state of change in China economic policy. China had a $273 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year and U.S. lawmakers say the imbalance hurts American manufacturers and taken away American jobs.

Underscoring the search for some good economic news ahead heading toward a re-election vote, Obama announced the broad outlines of an agreement to create a transpacific trade zone encompassing the United States and eight other nations. He said details must still be worked out, but said the goal was to complete the deal by next year.

"The United States is a Pacific power and we're here to stay," Obama said.

The eight countries joining the U.S. in the zone would be Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Obama also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda about Japan's interest in joining the trade bloc.

In a sign of potential tension with China, Froman shrugged off complaints from China that it had not been invited to join the trade bloc.

He told reporters that China had not expressed interest in joining and said the trade group "is not something that one gets invited to. It's something that one aspires to."

Addressing the European debt crisis, Obama said he welcomed the new governments being formed in Greece and Italy, saying they should help calm world financial markets. Obama's ever increasing attention to the Asia-Pacific is driven in part by Europe's own financial woes and the U.S. need to get more aggressive in tapping its export options.

Obama will be in Honolulu through Tuesday, when he leaves for Australia before ending his trip in Indonesia.

___

Associated Press Writer Erica Werner in Honolulu contributed to this report.

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